CELEBRATION OF CALLIGRAPHY Sacred Words in Art The Art of SALMA ARASTU APRIL 2 - MAY 28, 2017 ARTREACH GALLERY MUSLIM EDUCATIONAL TRUST at First Congregational UCC 10330 SW Scholls Ferry Road 1126 Park Avenue Tigard, OR 97223 Portland, OR 97205 www.metpdx.org www.uccportland,org/artreach Salma Arastu. Allah is of Infinite Bounties, #7 52” x 72” acrylic on canvas. And what think those who invent lies against Allah, on the Day of Judgment? Verily, Allah is full of Bounty to mankind. -- Al-Quran 10:60 CREATIVITY IS A GIFT Reflections on a Statement by Seyyed Hossein Nasr* Our ideas about creativity determine how we think about art. The following italicized quotations from Seyyed Hossein Nasr describe a deeply felt way of understanding the heart of art in the tradition of Islam. He contrasts as well some very basic ways art has been considered in the Western world and by doing so gives us a way to approach the calligraphic art of Salma Arastu. In the Islamic world, there is no idea of Promethean creativity, that is, man acting not only independently of God but often against the Will of Heaven -- stealing the power of creativity and then going on his own and creating whatever he will out of his own individualistic level of existence, or out of his own ego, or out of his own limitation. In the ancient Greek myth, Prometheus is he who stole fire from the gods. Prometheus’ name means “fore-thought”; his brother was Epimetheus, which means “after-thought.” The names capture two ideas that are familiar ideas to the western world: we look ahead, and we reflect on what happens, or might happen, after we act. Nasr, however, is concerned with the ego of a person so absorbed in the act of creating that there is no afterthought -- Prometheus did not foresee the implications of having stolen fire. For Nasr, understanding the Will of Heaven shapes a different vision and conceptualizes a different way of defining what it means to be human. The Islamic tradition sees creativity always related to man’s relationship with God. Man receives from God, first of all, his being; secondly, all the qualities that make him human--including the power of creativity. Thirdly, man receives from God life itself, which makes possible the manifestations of these qualities which are contained ultimately in the Divine Names and Qualities themselves. The fundamental tenet of Islam is that human relationship with God is basic, whether we like it or not. And this relationship is one of receiving from the Giver. Thus to submit to God is to keep conscious the source of creativity nestled in the fact of life and being. Creativity does not result in a fire that is stolen, for creativity is a gift and part of who we are. There is no egoistic standoff with the gods, no required “theft,” because humans have been endowed with creativity. Nasr sees Prometheus as one who suddenly awakens to his ability to create but is blind to the fact that this ability is a gift. The result becomes a problem: he uses the gift of creativity as a secret possession, as a means to set himself over against God. [A]rt, in the real sense of the word, is seen in the Islamic world as always coming from man’s submission to God, allowing, in a sense, the Divine Qualities to manifest themselves through man, rather than man inventing his own qualities or his own creative works as a veil which would somehow hide the Divine. There is no submission in the Greek myth of Prometheus. The fire is stolen, received without an accompanying sensitivity to its source. Submission to God requires humility, an awareness that being human is not being a god in contrast to God. Rather, there is a realization that we “live and move and have our being” with the quality of creativity inherent in who we are. Something seems incomplete when we fail to recognize this reality. The traditional conception of man in Islam is a centered one: man has a center that he carries within himself. That center is the heart, where both the intellect -- in the traditional sense of the word -- resides, and where ultimately the Divine Mercy resides. The Quranic message is always addressed to the heart. There is the famous Islamic saying, “The heart of the believer is the throne of the Divine Compassion.” Nasr wants to emphasize that in Islam, being human includes an awareness that it is not necessary to steal fire from the gods. Rather, at the core of who we are is the gift of creativity; the fire burns within us. Creating is at the heart center; submission to God is the awareness of creativity as gift. It is from this center that there issues the creative élan, the creative vitality. Man finds the center within himself. The work of art is not a center for man. It is man himself who is centered, and through this relationship between him and God, which in fact comes from his own center, man is able to disseminate the Qualities of the Divine in the world about him -- of course, on the human level, because God remains God and man remains man. There are no human qualities which do not derive ultimately from the Divine Qualities. To be aware of the center of who we are is the very means by which we know God. And to know God is to realize the gifts that are at the heart of being human. This perspective is instructive as we approach the art of Salma Arastu. Her art of calligraphy is a prayer generated from a mindful yielding to the Divine. The works are made in humility by one whose life is centered in God. Salma Arastu’s creations are not Promethean; rather, they evidence the artist’s submission to God. And so they become an invitation to us: to find our own center, to recognize the presence of the Holy within ourselves, and to realize the very gift of creativity we are invited to express. -- Sheldon Hurst, Curator * “Echoes of Infinity: Interview with Seyyed Hossein Nasr” by Jeffery P. Zaleski in The Inner Journey: Views from the Islamic Tradition, edited by Williamv C. Chittick. Sandpoint, ID: Morning Light Press, 2007. I paint to express the prayers of my heart and intend for the energy of the calligraphy, powered by the positive messages from the texts, to reveal the joy and celebration that I experience while creating them. Each verse I portray gives me strength and peace, and I hope to instill these feelings in my viewers. SALMA ARASTU in Celebration of Calligraphy, 14. SALMA ARASTU ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY Painter, sculptor, poet Berkeley based Salma Arastu, a native of India’s Rajasthan, has been creating and exhibiting her paintings internationally since the 1970s after acquiring Masters Degree from Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Baroda, India in 1975. Her work with continuous and lyrical line is influenced by her native culture and her residence after marriage in Iran and Kuwait before coming to the US in 1987. Her art works, whether paintings, sculptures or poetry, speak of human universality. Her art form and techniques are greatly inter-woven with Arabic Calligraphy, Miniature Arts and Folk patterns, and her major influences from her travels. Born into the Hindu tradition in her native India, and embracing Islam later on, she has enjoyed the beauty of these two distinctive traditions first hand. At birth, she was given the life-defining challenge of a left hand without fingers. Through her belief in the unity of an all-encompassing God, she was able to transcend barriers of religion, culture, and the cultural perceptions of handicaps. As a visual artist she has more than 40 solo shows, including some international and museum shows, to her credit. She has won several awards including East Bay Community’s fund for artists in 2012 and 2014 and City of Berkeley artist’s grant in 2014-2016. Her two outdoor sculptures and several paintings are in public places and four books are published with her poems and paintings: Dard Ki Seedhiyan in Hindi (1981); The Lyrical Line: Embracing All and Flowing (2008); and Turning Rumi: Singing Verses of Love Unity and Freedom (2012); and Celebration of Calligraphy (2014). A catalog was published in 2015 of her new series Unity of Sacred Texts and Symbols. She has presented talks with slide shows at prestigious institutions like Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, Stanford University, and Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at St. Louis University in St. Louis Missouri. CONTACT: 2547 8th Street, Studio # 34 Berkeley, CA 94710 Phone: 510 868 4398, Email: [email protected] www.salmaarastu.com SALMA ARASTU ARTIST’S STATEMENT Celebration of Calligraphy I find myself yearning to find infinite possibilities of the lyrical line itself on large canvases. I just want to plunge myself into the pleasure of contemplating the abstract flow of the swelling lines, and form compositions of lines and fields within given space, and enjoy the celebration of calligraphy through lyrical visions of fluid imagery of Arabic Calligraphy and Islamic patterns. I paint to express the prayers of my heart and intend for the energy of the calligraphy, powered by the positive messages from the texts, to reveal the joy and celebration that I experience while creating them. I work with several thin layers of Acrylic paints and work on details in between the layers with patterns and calligraphic strokes. Repeating the verses has a meditative and calming effect on me.